InterJet
As part of a visit of SCAC LLC and SuperJet International delegations to Mexico in April 2014 series of four-party (InterJet, SCAC, SJI, Russian Operator) meeting were conducted. In course of these meeting following topics were covered:
- Presentation of intermediate results of fleet SSJ-100b operation in InterJet;
- overview and discussion of operations and maintenance implemented by SuperJet for their SSJ-100b;
- participation in a flight along the route: Mexico City - Minatitlán - Mexico City;
- overview of InterJet's capabilities and infrastructure utilised for their SSJ-100b fleet maintenance;

Currently InterJet's fleet consists of about 40 aircraft of Airbus A320 family and 7 SSJ-100b.
InterJet perform 238 flights per day (currently, the number of flight is constantly growing).

InterJet provided the following data related to the aircraft dispatch reliability (%), average daily utilisation (flight hours) per plane(fh), average daily number of flight cycles per plane (fc). Data represents statistics for year 2013.

A320 99.74%. 7.80fh 5.28fc
SSJ-100b. 99.06%. 5.87fh 5.31fc

Data shows that:
- for the past year the dispatch reliability of SSJ-100b is less than Airbus A320; there is a constant growth of dispatch reliability of SSJ-100b fleet;
- average daily flight hours pre plane for SSJ-100b is less than for А320. This can be explained by the fact that InterJet operates its SSJ-100b fleet shorter routes with smaller passenger traffic, where operation of A320s is not economically effective;
- the average daily flight cycle count for SSJ-100b is slightly bigger than for A320.

It is important to stress SSJ-100b's dispatch reliability. The number shown above is current average accompanied by a constant growth. At the current moment the following value is achieved:
March 2014 - 99.46%;

During the last week before meetings six aircraft have demonstrated 99.98% dispatch reliability.

It's just impossible to ignore the reaction of the Russian Operator representative to the information presented by InterJet in relation to its SSJ-100b fleet: the phrase "unbelievable situation…" repeated multiple times during the meetings.

In the nearest future InterJet expects to begin flights from Mexico to three different destinations in the US. InterJet representatives are proud to say that they are "opening gates for Sukhoi SuperJet to North America"

It is important to pay extra attention to the maintenance model implemented by InterJet. InterJet representatives expressed their gratitude to the Manufacturer for its flexibility and loyalty in forms of maintenance provided. Thanks to this, the Operator is able to utilise the semi-equalized concept.

The model selected by InterJet for operating its fleet of A320 and SSJ100b requires guaranteed 4-5 hours of uninterrupted presence of every aircraft at a base airport during night hours every day and round-the-clock engineering.

During these hours the necessary aircraft maintenance is performed eliminating the need to withdraw the aircraft from its daily schedule for performing A-checks.
The high dispatch reliability of InterJet fleet is supported by a presence of 2-3 mechanics in each transit airport.

Note: Not a single Russian operator currently uses the semi-equalized concept. Russian operators do not have qualified personnel in transit airports. Have to admit that InterJet applied this approach to all its fleet: A320 as well as SSJ-100b.

InterJet has its own operative spares warehouse in Mexico City. If a spare part is not available in this warehouse it is supplied from warehouses operated by SuperJet international.
The maximum encountered delivery term is 4 days. The average term is 1 day. Spare parts as well as maintenance services are supplied by a single body - SuperJet international without Manufacturer's intervention.

The InterJet's maintenance infrastructure is concentrated in two airports: Mexico City and Toluca. Each one of these has two large hangars.
InterJet also owns a hangar for aircraft painting which allows painting its own aircraft as well as aircraft of other Operators. Currently there are no such a well-equipped hangars in Russia.

InterJet's crew has expressed a deep satisfaction by the fuel consumption numbers.

The efficiency of ground operations (luggage load / unload, refuelling) is also quite notable. The refuelling in a transit airport is performed with passengers on board, which significantly reduces the turnaround time. This technique is not used by Russian operators even though the FAP128 allows it and this enhances the economical characteristics of the flight.
The turnaround time is also reduced by the ACARS usage: load sheet and all other data required for the subsequent flight is received by the crew during the previous flight.

As it can be seen from the InterJet's MMMX-MMMT-MMMX flight results, the turnaround time for SSJ-100b is about 25-26 minutes.
It is recommended for Russian operators to review the InterJet's SSJ-100b operational experience.

Oscar Arguello, technical director of InterJet :
"Russian airlines are in a better position than we are - they are close to the Manufacturer and all documentation is in their native language… You just need to work hard .."